- Joined
- Apr 25, 2006
- Messages
- 17,518
14 May 2007
Ezra 6:1-5
So King Darius gave an order to search the records kept in the treasury in Babylon. A scroll was found in Ecbatana, the capital city of Media. This is what was written on it: Note: King Cyrus gave an order about the Temple of God in Jerusalem in the first year he was king. This was the order:
"Let the Temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices. Let its foundations be laid; it should be ninety feet high and ninety feet wide. It must have three layers of large stones and then one layer of timbers. The costs should be paid from the king's treasury. The gold and silver utensils from the Temple of God should be put back in their places. Nebuchadnezzar took them from the Temple in Jerusalem and brought them to Babylon, but they are to be put back in the Temple of God in Jerusalem."
Travelling into London from the south-west, you pass the huge forlorn shell of Battersea Power Station - a bleak monument to a grandiose regeneration scheme stymied by incompetence, greed, bureaucracy and political wrangling. For the last 15 years, it has stood empty and useless, a white elephant.
The project to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem was the Battersea of its day. The original work had ground to a halt due to political obstruction and threats. After many years, Zerubbabbel and Joshua were now trying to get it restarted. How could they breathe new life into the project?
The answer was to go back to its founding principles. Why had it been started? What was the vision? Why had the authorities supported it in the first place? Finding the original royal decree in the archives blew away all the accumulated muddle and obfuscation. Even the Sir Humphreys could not dispute it.
Have you lost your way in some form? Are you going through the motions? Then go back to first principles. The church at Ephesus in Revelation 2 had lost its first love for Jesus - have you? The church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians was so liberal in its love that it had forgotten to take a firm stand against sin - have you?
The relationship that is floundering - what was it that first attracted you to them? The youth project that is now beset by problems - how did you get round them before? The church that is dwindling and bored - what can you learn from the start of the church in Acts?
Teach me, Lord, to see afresh your purposes for me in all that I do and in all my relationships. Keep my heart on fire for you. Amen.
Written by James Archer
Ezra 6:1-5
So King Darius gave an order to search the records kept in the treasury in Babylon. A scroll was found in Ecbatana, the capital city of Media. This is what was written on it: Note: King Cyrus gave an order about the Temple of God in Jerusalem in the first year he was king. This was the order:
"Let the Temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices. Let its foundations be laid; it should be ninety feet high and ninety feet wide. It must have three layers of large stones and then one layer of timbers. The costs should be paid from the king's treasury. The gold and silver utensils from the Temple of God should be put back in their places. Nebuchadnezzar took them from the Temple in Jerusalem and brought them to Babylon, but they are to be put back in the Temple of God in Jerusalem."
Travelling into London from the south-west, you pass the huge forlorn shell of Battersea Power Station - a bleak monument to a grandiose regeneration scheme stymied by incompetence, greed, bureaucracy and political wrangling. For the last 15 years, it has stood empty and useless, a white elephant.
The project to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem was the Battersea of its day. The original work had ground to a halt due to political obstruction and threats. After many years, Zerubbabbel and Joshua were now trying to get it restarted. How could they breathe new life into the project?
The answer was to go back to its founding principles. Why had it been started? What was the vision? Why had the authorities supported it in the first place? Finding the original royal decree in the archives blew away all the accumulated muddle and obfuscation. Even the Sir Humphreys could not dispute it.
Have you lost your way in some form? Are you going through the motions? Then go back to first principles. The church at Ephesus in Revelation 2 had lost its first love for Jesus - have you? The church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians was so liberal in its love that it had forgotten to take a firm stand against sin - have you?
The relationship that is floundering - what was it that first attracted you to them? The youth project that is now beset by problems - how did you get round them before? The church that is dwindling and bored - what can you learn from the start of the church in Acts?
Teach me, Lord, to see afresh your purposes for me in all that I do and in all my relationships. Keep my heart on fire for you. Amen.
Written by James Archer
